NBA DFS Risers Playbook for DraftKings and FanDuel 1-14

Welcome to the NBA DFS Risers Playbook for DraftKings and Fanduel! Every morning we will highlight standout Vegas totals, pace up spots, notable injury news, and how I would attack the slate given the information we have in the morning. We have a 5 game slate so grab a cup of coffee and let’s get into it!

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Notable Vegas Totals

Indiana Pacers @ Portland Trail Blazers O/U 229.5- The Blazers get a date with the Pacers on the second half of a back to back. Same story as yesterday for the Blazers. Everyone looks to be healthy and I do not anticipate anybody resting due to a back to back. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are great plays as they usually are. Jusuf Nurkic looks to be an early value of the day at just $5,300 on DraftKings.

Indiana will be without Victor Oladipo due to their part in the James Harden trade which ended up getting them Caris LeVert. I would say it is unlikely to predict LeVert is active for this game but, watch for news closer to lock. In my early look, Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, and Myles Turner look great. I would imagine Aaron Holiday and Justin Holiday would benefit the most from Oladipo’s absence. I would trust projections for this one and focus on who will be getting minutes.

Golden State Warriors @ Denver Nuggets O/U 228.5- Tough matchup for Golden State in this one. Steph Curry has the potential to be the highest scorer on any given slate. He is expensive on both sites but, he cannot be ignored as a tournament option. Draymond Green has flirted with a triple-double in the past 2 games and looks to be getting a lot of the facilitating work. He is a good value on both sites. Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre are fine plays but, I’m not going to force them into my lineups.

My Denver exposure will be centered around Nikola Jokic. He has been amazing and he will be my priority from Denver. Jamal Murray is a volatile play which always makes him interesting for tournaments. If you fade Jokic, Murray should be a good way to get exposure to Denver. Paul Millsap and Will Barton are in play for me but, they are not priorities in my early look.

Pace Up Spots

Denver Nuggets- The Nuggets face a Warriors team that is top 5 in pace for the season. We should see plenty of points in this one. My priority is Jokic but, Murray could get hot and drop 40 real-life points.

Miami Heat- The Heat will be shorthanded again and have another matchup with Philly. The 76ers run the floor at a top 5 pace for the season which will lead to more possessions for the value plays from Miami. Precious Achiuwa, Tyler Herro, Gabe Vincent, and Kelly Olynyk stand out in my early look.

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Key Injury News

Miami Heat- Everyone and their momma is out for Miami with COVID-19. It appears to be the same amount of players available for Miami at the time of writing this article. Pay attention to news and starting lineups for this one. There will be value to be on the Heat.

DeMar DeRozan- DeRozan has missed some time for personal reasons. If he is out, I am giving bumps to Dejounte Murray, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Keldon Johnson. There is a chance that DeRozan plays in this one.

Philadelphia 76ers- Same type of situation as Miami for Philly. Half of their roster is out for this one. I’m less interested in Philly due to salaries creeping up to the mid-range rather than the minimum that a lot of these players were priced at the other day. It is possible Tobias Harris is back today but, it is unclear at this point.

Early Targets

Nikola Jokic- The Joker is in a great spot against a Golden State team that runs the floor at will. I doubt we will see the 7 steals we saw the other night but, this is a great opportunity for Jokic to get a ton of usage with Michael Porter Jr. on the shelf. James Wiseman isn’t exactly a defensive stopper at this point in his career. I’ll have Jokic in cash games and tournaments.

Pascal Siakam- Who loves spin moves? Siakam is getting hot scoring over 50 DraftKings points in 3 out of his last 4 games. Charlotte hasn’t posed much of a defensive threat against anybody this season and is on the second half of a back to back. I’ll be attacking Charlotte today.

Chris Boucher- Unleash the beast. Boucher has been a point per minute machine this season and is finally getting around 30 minutes a game over his last 3 games. We should see him in the starting lineup and he should dominate P.J. Washington and company down low.

Precious Achiuwa- The early value of the day is Precious. He should get the start again tonight with half of the Heat roster out and he saw 36 minutes last game. Barring foul trouble, we should see more of the same from Precious in this one. His price has come up but, he is still a great value play when you factor in the massive workload.

These are my EARLY targets. If you want targets from our NBA coaches closer to lock, check out NBA Building Blocks!